Oven appliances generally include a cabinet that defines one or more cooking chambers for baking or broiling food items therein. To heat the cooking chambers for baking or other oven operations, oven appliances include one or more heating elements positioned at a top portion, bottom portion, or both of the cooking chambers. Some oven appliances also include a convection heating element and fan for convection cooking cycles. The heating element or elements may be used for various cycles of the oven appliance, such as a preheat cycle, a cooking cycle, or a self-cleaning cycle.
Typically, oven appliances including two cooking chambers (often referred to as double oven appliances) have cooking chambers of different sizes, i.e., one chamber generally has a larger volume than the other chamber. Also, the number, configuration, and power rating of the heating elements typically varies between the cooking chambers of a double oven, e.g., one chamber may have a bake heating element and a broil heating element and the other chamber may have a bake heating element, a broil heating element, and a convection heating element, as well as a convection fan.
From time to time, or even often, a user of an oven appliance may desire to cook a large quantity or several pans or dishes of a food item and, thus, may desire to use both cooking chambers of a double oven to cook the same food item. However, because of the differences in size and heating rates between the chambers, the time required to preheat the cooking chamber is likely different for each cooking chamber, and the time required to cook the food item likely varies between the cooking chambers. Therefore, the user may be uncertain as to when each cooking chamber will be preheated and when the food item in each chamber will be cooked, and the user could be dissatisfied with the variations in preheat and cooking time between the cooking chambers.
Accordingly, an oven appliance with features for ensuring the cooking chambers of an oven appliance having at least two cooking chambers exit preheat and finish cooking food items within each cooking chamber at the same time also would be advantageous. Further, a method for operating an oven appliance to ensure the cooking chambers of an oven appliance having at least two cooking chambers exit preheat and finish cooking food items within each cooking chamber at the same time would be beneficial.